Finding Fulfillment: When Being Part of the Game or Running a Practice is Your World

In this episode of The Millionaire Dentist™, hosts Casey and Jarrod dive deep into the ethos of dental entrepreneurship. They challenge the status quo, asking the provocative question: "Is it ok to just own a dental practice?"

Announcer:
Hello everyone. Welcome to The Millionaire Dentist podcast, brought to you by Four Quadrants Advisory. On this podcast, we break down the world of dentistry finances, and business practices to help you become the millionaire dentist you deserve to be. Please be advised, we do speak with an honest tongue and may not be safe for work.

Casey Hiers:
Hello and welcome. This is Casey Hiers back at The Millionaire Dentist podcast in studio with co-host Jarrod Bridegman.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Casey, how you doing today?

Casey Hiers:
Doing great. Thanks for asking.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
I like that teal-colored shirt you got on today. Very, very sensual.

Casey Hiers:
It spoke to me today.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
So yeah.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
I mean, spring's happening. It's nice to kind of wear the brighter colors and it brings your mood up, I think.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. 50s in the morning or 70s in the afternoon.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
This is my kind of weather, man.

Casey Hiers:
Got to be versatile.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah. Yep.

Casey Hiers:
And I collect quarter zips, I've been told. Got a lot of them.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Well, there's always a hobby for somebody. Casey, how do you want to start this? How do you want to start today? Do you feel like you're doing okay at podcasting?

Casey Hiers:
Is okay good enough?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
See? Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. We just talk. We're not,-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's right.

Casey Hiers:
We're not podcasters. We just talk. Yeah. Well, we met for a brief three-minute show prep.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
But it was good.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yep.

Casey Hiers:
Hopefully it manifests in our conversation today.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah, I hope so. And it kind of spun out of, and I kind of want to get off on, get off, get on this whole thing of, I was telling you about my son. My son's in soccer, my daughter's in volleyball, and my son is a huge sports head. He's six years old. We went to a birthday party last weekend and some of the parents were like, "Oh, my kids talk about your son and how much he talks about sports, and you're a big sports guy too. Huh." And I'm like, "Not really. I'm not a sports guy." And so you started joking about are you going to do travel sports in the future? And it kind of went from there. That's kind of what sparked this whole podcast episode today.

Casey Hiers:
I bet a lot of listeners can relate to travel sports because it's now an obsession. It's swept the country.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
A little bit of a racket and it's a business and it's money, but neither here nor there. Nice opportunities for kids. But talking about is it okay to just make the travel team?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right. Right.

Casey Hiers:
Right. So when that happens, time and money, those are probably people's most valuable resources. Yay, your kid makes a travel team. You're going to pay a couple thousand bucks minimum.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
Your weekends are shot. If you don't live in a Mecca of good resources and venues for host them, you're then traveling multiple hours.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
To watch your kid bench it.

Casey Hiers:
And if they made the team and that's all they did, and they're not playing and thriving and, like what are your thoughts on that?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Personally, I think that'd be a hard thing to do. Yay, they made the team. That's an accomplishment in itself. Don't get me wrong because people do get cut from that. But again, like are you traveling to watch them warm the bench?

Casey Hiers:
Is that enough?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Is that enough for you? Is that enough for your kid?

Casey Hiers:
And there's a phase, I think like younger. That's a good way to get better.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Sure.

Casey Hiers:
My daughter's playing some basketball, little rec league, doing good.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Didn't work on it. Next season didn't do as good. She made a travel team, but now she's getting humble.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
But there's some good to it. But the path is not to be satisfied. It's how to, okay, I need to work on my left hand. I've got to be able to do this. I got to get better. But if she didn't have that mentality, I don't think I would just have her on these teams and say, that's good enough, and pretend that that's good enough.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right, right. So let me ask you in terms of,-

Casey Hiers:
And yes, she has thrown a punch or two in a game. Girl's twice her size. She does not like bullies. She's not the biggest, but when she sees somebody doing something wrong, she goes and confronts them.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Good.

Casey Hiers:
It'll catch up to her eventually.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Sure.

Casey Hiers:
But right now she's,-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
She's at that age where it's like eh,-

Casey Hiers:
She's the sheriff. Somebody throws a punch, she goes and throws a,-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Throws it right back.

Casey Hiers:
Little rib shot with her forearm.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's awesome. And tying that into dentistry, let's say, is it just okay, is it just enough to just have a practice?

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. Being a dentist is a good accomplishment. Is that enough? Right. And I've heard practice owners, "Well, I'll be okay." Well let's peel that onion back a little bit. So you go to high school, great. Undergraduate degree, fantastic. Go to dental school, a massive achievement. You've surpassed most. And then well, maybe some specialize, you're even separating yourself there. And then maybe you're an associate and you're a practice owner, and so you've achieved a lot.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
But then a lot of times what we talk about is the business side and how that can get neglected because you're not trained in it.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
And so that's kind of the premise of is it okay, is it just good enough to be a dentist or a specialist?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Casey from our interactions throughout the couple of years I've been talking with you and speaking with you, I would say that's a no. It's not enough for these overachievers.

Casey Hiers:
A lot of times it's not, but it's path of least resistance.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
So instead of focusing on how to have an incredibly efficient, incredibly profitable practice or business model, that's a really hard undertaking. And so then it's almost distraction.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
And then they go into learning new procedures. That's awesome.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
Then getting new equipment, get trained on it to be more efficient, and then that void still isn't filled. And so then well, I'm going to get involved in the state dental association. Again, amazing.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Sure.

Casey Hiers:
Maybe go on mission trips and do a bunch of free dentistry. Again, all these things are really, really good things. But what we've noticed is its kind of like just making the travel team. You've separated yourself by making the team, but you're kind of ignoring, hey, I want to work hard and play and start and score and help the team. I'm just going to be content being on it.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Because being busy doesn't always mean successful.

Casey Hiers:
No, and the tie in here is I just wish practice owners would continue that pursuit of excellence that they've had their whole life, but focus on their money.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
Sub-60 overhead, double your income, retirement planning, retirement savings. Get real surgical with that. Retire years earlier with 8, 10, 12, $15 million. Get that house in order with your achievement itch, drive.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yep.

Casey Hiers:
Right. Then go do these other things as well.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
I mean, if you have that personality and that drive that you do want to go out and help and volunteer and do these kinds of things, like I really do think that's honorable and that's really, really cool and awesome. But if you are scraping by yourself to do these things,-

Casey Hiers:
Well, all these things are honorable. I don't want to beat up on them, but there's an order to things. And so often people don't know how to maximize the profitability of their practice. And so they sort of ignore that a little bit. It bothers them, but they do all these other things so that when they meet with peers and friends and Oh, well, we're doing this and we're doing this and we're learning this, and again, it's all honorable, but it shouldn't be good enough. Let's just come out and say it.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
It shouldn't be good enough.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Are you learning these skills and things that are going to improve your practice and improve your bank account, improve all those things? Going back to the travel team thing, is your kid working on their swing or working on their shot, or are you focused on making sure they have the best cleats in town?

Casey Hiers:
Yeah, no, that's a good point. Right. Having the best equipment or the best this or the best of that, that's all good.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
But make sure your fundamentals are right. Start with your foundation. Make sure your practice and your money and your retirement planning are pristine, that they're in the right area, that you don't feel bad every week because you're seeing what you produce, but you also know how much you make and it's not adding up.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Or you dropped a bunch of money on some new equipment that's a clothes hanger later. Or that brand new pair of cleats that the kid wears twice and decides the sport's not for them anymore.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. Yeah. And unfortunately, I think a lot of high achieving dentists and specialists would say, no, it's not good enough or just okay to be where I am. I want to go to the next level.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
How do I get there? But then they spend decades with distractions.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yep.

Casey Hiers:
And all the things that we've mentioned that are honorable.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
How else are you going to be the president of basketball? You got to keep working on it.

Casey Hiers:
The president of basketball. I don't know what that is.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Wow. That's about as much I know of the game, but no, I'm not going to say, I was about to say you're onto something, but you already know this. We've been onto this. As a company, as a firm, our advisors and everybody else knows these things, and it's tough to lead people to that water.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. We know what the distractions are, we know what the self-deceit is.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
And again, most of them are honorable things, but it's sad that then towards the end of a career from a financial standpoint, when people, maybe their hands are and their eyes aren't what they used to be.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
They haven't got their financial house in order and they're not in a good spot, but they've been distracted with all these other things.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
It's to throw another cliche, it's the road to hell's paved with good intentions.

Casey Hiers:
No. Yeah. I mean, I was trying to think of another little cliche to throw in there, but it's all very true. And again, give away free dentistry on your terms, volunteer for dental societies and study clubs in your state, associations and learn new technique and new equipment. That's all great.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
But not at a sacrifice to yourself.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
No, that's it. It's like somebody that goes and volunteers at a homeless shelter, but their wife and kids are not in a good place. They're doing bad things. It's like get your own house in order before you go out and do all these other great things as like a, not a moral high road in a bad way, but all these things that make you feel better. But in reality, you know you need to get your own house in order first. Then you go out and spread it. And the amount of people I talk to, "Oh, I'm producing 2 million. I'm collecting one five and I'm making 300." It's like, that's gross.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
That's not good. Why is that? And normally they say, "You're the first person that's ever asked me that. I don't know. And it's pissing me off."

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
But it's easy to be busy.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yes.

Casey Hiers:
And that's not in dentistry. That's across the board. Busyness is like a badge of honor for people to avoid talking about reality, real things and the core of issues.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
And the reason for that would be just because I can be the same way at times. It's because it's almost like a checklist, being busy. You feel the accomplishment of doing something, but did it actually mean anything?

Casey Hiers:
Yeah.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
No, that's a very good point Jarrod.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Thank you. Thank you.

Casey Hiers:
Jarrod, with your bird shirt.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Ah, I'm wearing a dolphin shirt today.

Casey Hiers:
Looks like a bird.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah, there's little birds and leaves and stuff on here.

Casey Hiers:
Like camo.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah, so I can hide in an aviary.

Casey Hiers:
Well, in another example of this, maybe you've gone to a gym and you've seen somebody that boy, they work on their shoulders, their chest, their triceps and their biceps, and then they've got little chicken legs, right?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Little stick legs. Never skip leg day.

Casey Hiers:
No. And everything's about balance.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
And for us, we just want our listeners to challenge their existing teams to be better or attend one of our events.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Or have the courage to have a phone call. Because again, on average people that they get this right, within three years, their overhead drops 11%, income goes up 25%. Most of the time it doubles.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
There's a clear plan to retirement. People know what they need to do, when they can retire, answers they've never had.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah. And all this adds to a side benefit of people being less stressed, getting more sleep, spending more time with their family and friends.

Casey Hiers:
Time spent with family and friends is more rich and joyful because you didn't skip leg day, right?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's right.

Casey Hiers:
Your house is in order. Therefore, now you can go out and spread joy and good things to other people. But yeah, dentistry, it's such a quirky industry, for lack of a better word,-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
Because such hard work and achievement and amazing treatment for patients. But then some other things just get left to the side and it's again, we see it, we hear it, we hear the self lives, the deceit, the distraction.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right. We hear all that, but after 20 plus years of experience as a firm, we know how to handle and tackle those issues and those problems. And you'll find that out if you attend one of our events, which we have coming up. We've got some coming up in Atlanta, Georgia. We've got Boston coming up. We're about to launch St. Louis area, Kansas City. We've got one coming up in our hometown area of Indianapolis. There's a lot of really exciting things that we are doing to just really help and educate our friends and people out there.

Casey Hiers:
Let's just get real with the dental community.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Right. Here are the real, there's a lot of challenges. Here they are. Here's what good looks like. What are you doing to get there? And if you're not, you're only going to hurt yourself.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yep.

Casey Hiers:
You're only going to sacrifice your future, your retirement, your legacy, your family. At some point, the chickens come home, the roost, we've done podcasts on that before, but be the person that is curious in your late 30s or 40s. Don't wait until your late 50s and 60s.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
And then go, wow. Just think if I could have done this sooner.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
If I had done this 20 years ago, I'd be set.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah. We're telling you now. Do it now.

Casey Hiers:
Don't skip leg day.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's right. All right. Fourquadrantsadvisory.com/events. Check out what we got going on there. Please rate and review us on iTunes or Apple Podcasts.

Casey Hiers:
I mean, maybe not this one.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Spotify.
https://www.fourquadrantsadvisory.com/the-millionaire-dentist-podcast/finding-fulfillment-when-being-part-of-the-game-or-running-a-practice-is-your-world-1
Maybe one of our other ones.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
One of our other ones. Do one of our good ones. This one, if you didn't care for it, just skip it. That's fine. Casey, thank you so much.

Announcer:
That's all the time we have today. Thank you to our guests for their insight and for sharing some really great information. And thank you to you, the listener for tuning in. The Millionaire Dentist Podcast is brought to you by Four Quadrants Advisory. To see if they might be a good fit for you and your practice, go on over to fourquadrantsadvisory.com and see why year after year they retain over 95% of their clients. Thank you again for joining us, and we'll see you next time.